Saving the San Francisco Forktail Damselfly

Native species in and around the San Francisco Bay Area are rare indeed. The San Francisco forktail damselfly is the rarest odonate (dragonflies and damselflies) in North America. Since 2016, the survival of this smallest of damselfly species – found only in small pockets in San Francisco’s Presidio and Mountain Lake – has been helped through efforts by San Francisco Zoological Society and its partnership with ecologists from the Presidio Trust to re-establish populations in key areas in San Francisco’s parks.

This work has included engaging local communities, providing educational outreach and research into the causes of population decline, habitat conservation projects that protect valuable damselfly breeding grounds, and the establishment of breed and release programs to supplement wild populations.

Your support is essential for these efforts, so please consider donating to the San Francisco Zoo’s Damselfly Conservation Fund. Your donation will support efforts to save this species from extinction and will provide educational resources to help people learn more about them.

The San Francisco Zoo has already made a significant impact on the conservation of the California bald eagle through the Bald Eagle Recovery Project, a long-term breed and release program that contributed greatly to the species’ delisting from the threatened and endangered species list. We are now working to expand those same conservation initiatives to help save the San Francisco forktail damselfly too.

Together, we can save this endangered damselfly species and ensure that it has a bright future in San Francisco. Every penny counts and every dollar helps us move closer to our goal of protecting this beloved species! Thank you for your help in saving the damselfly. With your support, we can make a real difference.